Mora
Queen Mora is one of the most important historical figures in the legends of the Midlands and Thogenar. She forged a short-lasting foriegn Empire in Thogenar, one of the only times the Uralom has had to suffer such an indignity, and led to instability in the Uralom which was a catalyst for mass reform. She was also the first figure to make mass use of mages and magiks in warfare, revolutioninizing the practice of war. Born: A Camp, somewhere in Kalmaen Lived: 10,355 - 10,391 Died: Archus Hill, Thogenar Queen Mora was born in the year 10,355, at a temporary gathering of the Knights of Kalmaen. She travelled with her mother who raised her - she never knew her father. Her mother was said to have been a low born warrior - but a favoured knight in many tournaments - however, due to an unfortunate accident, she perished of wounds sustained (even though she actually still won the tournament in question). The King at the time, King Tzelni, had been taken with Mora's mother. Though the girl was still quite young, he arranged for her to be betrothed to him and she was married at the young age of 14. She was the king's 5th wife, putting her fairly low in the rankings of the royal household. She was described as "Slender - of slightly above the average height. As a child she was gangly, and as a woman she was trim. Her skin was, like many Kalmaeni, olive hue. Her eyes were of gold and her hair was braided and dyed white, an older custom she re-popularized. She also covered herself with the white battle paint of her people. She dressed as a warrior, with but a leather breastplate and skirt - it was only the Crown of Fire and her two masterfully made Crescent Axes that marked her as royalty - she herself felt that her duty as warrior must be equal to her duty as Queen" Mora likely would have lived her life as a minor noble, if not for the war with Redtree. Kalmaen had been at war with Redtree since before King Tzelni had taken the throne, over issues of land, slave trading and raiding. During the failed siege of Koyernsk (Which lead to the surrender of many Kalmaeni lands to Redtree in exchange for peace), King Tzelni was critically wounded. He died later that month as the wound became infected. Tzelni was still fairly young and his death was rather sudden - there was no certain heir and various persons stepped forwards to claim the throne. Tzelni's family and the royal council deliberated and there were many duels of proving. In the end, it appeared that the King's cousin Hrelseth would ascend to the throne, due to his terrifying prowess in combat. The court was shocked when Queen Mora declared her intention to become heir, even after everyone had dropped out. No one in the royal council particularly wanted Mora to be Queen so they instructed Hrelseth to challenge Mora to the crown via combat - it was expected that the 15 year old girl would naturally withdraw from the prospect of certain death, and the matter would be settled. The council was therefore tacken aback when Mora agreed - and horrified when the young girl managed to engage in a long, protracted combat with Hrelseth, using her speed to avoid her enemy and whittling him down, until she finally slew Hrelseth. And with that, she became Queen. Of course, there were many who were furious and the perceived usurption by a low-born wife and many moved to have her removed. However, Queen Mora had gained quite a few allies. After a few years of political and direct fighting, Queen Mora had removed the most immediate of her rivals. She managed to appease the rest of the council after she won a series of battles against Redtree, and then organized a favourable peace between the two nations, regaining the land previously lost. However, none of them could have guessed the future that Queen Mora had planned for herself. Kalmaen, though burgeoning under Queen Mora, was still in many ways but a hinterland to the nation of Kolvecca. Seeking to increase the power of her people, Queen Mora entered into negotiations with the Council of Kolvecca for a royal marriage between her and King Ialth of Kolvecca, to create a merger of the nations. However, she soon found, to her disgust, that a good number of the Kolveccan Council was made up of entrepreneurial Creudyn. Queen Mora went to Chalice Falls, regardless, and married King Ialth, before he could take another bride. However, immediately after the wedding, she began pressing the council to have her given the main executive power in the relationship, which they violently refused - they claimed Kolveccan custom meant that the husband was in charge, and they had been married in Kolvecca. In reality, they felt that Queen Mora was far too anti-Uralom in her belief system to be safely put in charge. Queen Mora, after a particularly heated argument with the council, shocked them all by leaving Chalice Falls with her retinue, throwing the Council into disarray. Threats of divorce and even war were tossed around as Queen Mora had her sympathizers stall. Within the year Queen Mora returned to Chalice Falls - with a new husband, the Troll Hrungar Goldfang. The Kolveccan Council was nearly apoplectic. Multiple spouses was against Kolveccan (and Creudyn) custom - and not only that, but the new husband was a troll! They insisted that Queen Mora show up at the palace to arrange for a divorce. Queen Mora did so - with her husband and his band of Troll mercanaries in tow, who promptly tossed the opposing council members off the Falls to their deaths. With this, Queen Mora declared Kolvecca and Kalmaeni united into the Kalmaeni Empire. By her actions, Queen Mora had earned the enmity of the Creudyn councils - the same councils that had a stake in the nearby nations of Uldos and Ulkar. Uralom put pressure on these nations to declare war on the new Kalmaeni Empire, which they did. Battle was joined, and Uldos and Ulkar found themselves sorely tested. Two disasterous occourances doomed the Creudyn side. Firstly, Creudyn ambassadors attempted to form an alliance with Mithrassan, then the mightiest of the human nations. However, to their dismay, it turned out that Hrungar Goldfang was the beloved brother of Jurngar Goldfang, the King of Ennegevin Goldfang - and close ally of the royal family of Mithrassen. On top of this, Uldos folded very swiftly after only a few defeats, in exchange for a more favourable surrender. Ulkar was furious, but alone it was swiftly conquered. The Kalmaeni Empire now covered a vast expanse of the South-East Midlands. But Mora was not content. She was angered at how Creudyn meddling had, in her eyes, attempted to cheat her of what she rightfully claimed, and rankled at the perception that the Creudyn considered the races of the Midlands to be "lesser". Mora learned that Uralom was planning a counter invasion of the Midlands. Queen Mora determined to pre-empt this attack by invading Uralom. This seemed like a fool's errand - Thogenar had, since time immemorial, been sealed off at the Cleave by the mighty Wall. There were no siege weapons in that time adequate to beat through it. This lead Uralom to make a fatal error - assuming that Queen Mora could not touch them by land, and that they had time to spare. However, Queen Mora had gained many followers in her retinue, including many mages. She was not simply a warrior, but a cunning scholar as well. After countless hours interviewing vary mages, she began to consider making them experiment with pooling of power. The result of this experiement was that Mora rode her horseback horde up to the Wall - and then had a massive battalion of mages unite to make a massive ramp, with which she rode up onto the wall, overwhelming the defenders. The Wall was taken in a night of blood and fires lit across it to serve as a message. Uralom found itself scrambling to muster a response - this was the first serious invasion from outside the continent in recorded history. The Lord of Thorzenzelm, the nation Mora found herself in, was Vaszoln of the Iron, notorious for his military campaigns against the non-Creudyn races in the North-West. He mustered his forces, confident of his ability to crush this "Northern Bitch". He found himself entirely out of his element, facing lightning horseback strikes. Queen Mora made cunning use of her three main assets - the Kalmaeni Knights, Mounted Archers and the newly formed Dragoon Mages. Combined with allied forces from Kolvecca and a large contigent of Trolls from Goldfang, she outmaneuvered the Creudyn forces. Vazoln was frusterated to the extreme, and leapt at the oppurtunity that opened itself when Mora marched towards the city of Vaszent. However, too late, Vaszoln discovered that this was a trap - his forces were surrounded, whittled down and routed. In his fury he attempted to slay Queen Mora himself, but he was bested - Queen Mora held his head aloft after she had bested him, demoralizing the remaining Creudyn forces. From this moment began the eventually near total conquest of Thorzenzelm. Queen Mora put pacifying the majority of the inland in the hands of her trusted generals while she went back and around the coast to seize the port city of Vorszem, denying the Creudyn a vital area for moving troops. Queen Mora's Campaign would last until 10,391. She remained undefeated in every battle, one of the few generals in history to do so. However, in 10, 389, the old and senile Creudyn Emperor finally passed away. The new Emperor, Stoszlar, is elected by the Senate due to his military experience and promise to deal with the collapse and conquest of Thorzenzelm. He assembled Creudyn forces from the rest of Thogenar and marched north to crush Queen Mora. The Moran Horde and the Imperial Host clashed near the small town of Archus, near the Hill of the same name. The Kreynos force found itself severely outnumbered and with no where to run. Mora, however, inspired her troops and prepared for the most challenging battle of her life. Mora withdrew her forces and charged again and again. However, the Creudyn forces had a higher moral than she was used to, and were more disciplined. As casualities began to mount, she summoned her best Kalmaeni Knights and commanded a charge right into the heart of the Creudyn lines. Smashing through the Eternal Guard, Mora slew Emperor Stoszlar in single combat and withdrew, her Knights devastated. She herself had taken severe and mortal wounds. The death of the Emperor, however, was a fatal blow to Creudyn moral, the Imperial Host scattering. It was a extremely costly victory in manpower for the Kreynos though. The biggest price would be Mora herself. Her wounds were too severe and the best of her doctors could do nothing to aid her. She languished for a week, then passed on. Her body was cremated, and her most loyal followers began the Long Ride - taking the Queen's ashes back to the forest where she had claimed to have been born and scattering them there. After Mora's death, organization of the conquered Thorzenzelm faltered. The Kalmaeni Empire would hold onto Thorzenzelm for about another century before their control over it collapsed. Not long after that, Ulkar and Uldos would gain independence, and then Kolvecca and Kalmaen would split. Despite the relative short-lived nature of her Empire, Mora is still considered by many to be one of the most important historical figures. In the Midlands she is revered as a hero, who united a variety of people against injustice and who rose from humble beginnings. In Thogenar, she is most often referred to as the "Queen of Blood", seen as a merciless warmonger whose only real legacy was bloodshed. However, nearly everyone admits that Queen Mora was a revolutionary figure in the field of military tactics - particularly in the use of Magic on the battlefield. While mages had been used in small auxillery roles, Queen Mora was the first to understand how to increase their efficiency and effectiveness through careful organization and deployment. Her organizational structure of Mage Battallions would, ironically, be co-opted by the Creudyn themselves, and be a basis for their New Army. The chaos that Mora rent in Thorzenzelm was also an important factor for the Creudyn in other ways, the instability paving the way for the rise of the Urazans and prompting the road towards massive restructuring of Uralom. And in the Midlands, although she worked to unite, her era of rule helped many disparate states develop more of a national conciousness - the nations of Kolvecca and Kalmaen especially owe their modern national heritage deeply to her rule. Category:Personages